Sora Rail, Nottinghamshire – 12th Dec 2004

 2004, Birds, Birds of 2004, Year  No Responses »
Dec 122004
 

Sora – Porzana carolina – Clifton Pit, Attenborough Nature Reserve, Nottinghamshire.

Birding is just an unpredictable experience. We had covered a local patch at Willington, Derbyshire, for not a lot – a few common species of wildfowl. We had then spent nearly 3 hours in a damp hide sitting and patiently waiting for a Bittern, at the Attenborough Reserve, that had regularly been performing in front of the said hide. Cutting our losses, we decided to make our way back to the car park and try for nearby Short-eared Owls. On our stroll back, Richard, Rod, Will and myself met a local birder, Paul Buxton, who was scoped up overlooking a vegetated island on Clifton Pit. To our surprise he had found a small crake, what he thought was a Spotted Crake, we all suddenly came to life!. Once we looked at the bird it was obvious to me that this was no Spotted Crake. It simply had to be a SORA. 
 
We waited for it to show again and needed a couple more views to be absolutely 100% sure. This was a mega bird  and we had to sure. YES it was definitely a SORA and it took a few minutes  for the impact to sink in. 
 
The first record for Nottinghamshire and the Midlands – wow, and about the 15th record for Britain of this North American vagrant crake. A real nice way to end the day.
 
 
 
My notes that were sent to the British Birds Rarities Committee read something like as follows:-
 
At first I thought it was a first year bird, however I am more inclined to think it was an adult in winter plumage. The bird had a yellow-green triangularshaped bill with no visible signs of any red or orange coloration to the bill base. The facial area in front of the eye, around the base of the bill, chin and throat was black. The crown was clean with no streaking and a clean grey neck and upper breast area with no spotting. The grey colour of the neck extended behind the eye and ear coverts and formed a prominent supercillium. There was also a tiny white triangular mark just behind the eye. The fringes of the tertials were silvery white and showed no signs of any “Wavy Bars”. The upper-parts, crown, nape and rear of neck were an olive-brown colour. The mantle had several rows of black “Chevrons” fringed and bordered with “Silvery-white” which formed a “tram-line” effect down the back. the under-tail was distinctive, in having an orange-buff central patch, bordered either side with white. It constantly flicked its tail, in typical crake fashion. The legs were greenish yellow with long toes. Across the flanks there was an intricate pattern of black & white "Wavy lines".
 
The record was eventually accepted by the BBRC as a Sora.
 
 

 

Britain’s 1st Masked Shrike – 31st October 2004

 2004, Birds, Birds of 2004, Year  No Responses »
Oct 312004
 

Masked Shrike – Lanius nubicus- Juvenile – 1st year Kilrenny Common, Kilrenny, Fife.

Note the overall grey appearance of the bird. A small and slightly built shrike. Small thin bill less heavy than other shrike species I have seen. Also a long tail and a rump which is dark and same colour as back. Note the large,clean white wing patch, which is very prominently set-off against the blackness of the rest of the wing. Note large area of white and scaley looking scapulars that contrast well against the overall greyness of the bird.
 
 
The bird appeared to be in tail moult but despite tyhis, the tail still appeared long, narrow and black and white. The ear coverts were dark grey but there appeared to be little in the way of a whitish forehead and eyebrow.
 
 
 
 

A Controversial Curlew at Minsmere – 5th Oct 2004

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Oct 052004
 

Eurasian Curlew – Possible 1st winter female Slender-billed Curlew – Numenius tenuirostris .
5th October 2010 – Minismere, Eastbridge area, Suffolk.
 
On 28th September 2004 Brian Small posted two photos on Surfbirds of an interesting looking Curlew species, found on the Minsmere Levels, Suffolk. On 29th 
September 2 more photos were posted by Jeff Higgott and by early October, the bird was being considered to be a 1st winter female Slender-billed Curlew!! Even one of Europe’s experts on the species, Didier Vangeluwe had been to see it. The bird was featured on October 1st on a local “Look East” BBC News broadcast and it was 
reported as being confirmed as a 1st year Slender-billed Curlew, probably a female. 
 
Despite all this, there were still many experts who had nagging doubts about its identification. I went to see it on 5h October 2004 and the following shows my digiscoped images and my notes on the bird. I like many UK birders have no experience of SBC. Albeit the majority of UK birders who do have knowledge, will be of male birds in Morocco during the mid 1990’s. There are very few people in Europe who will have seen any 1st year females and there are even fewer world records of 1st year birds. So this species is not straight forward to identify and of course the possibility of an odd Eurasian Curlew or Eastern race Curlew – N.a.orientalis or even a hybrid cannot be ruled out. The first accepted British record of Slender-billed Curlew was on 4th  May 1998, when a first summer, probably a female, was discovered at Druridge Bay, Northumberland. It was accepted by the BBRC and firmly identified by field notes and photographs, videos, together with literature and museum skin 
identification. See Birding World – Vol 11 – No:5 page 181. 
 
 
The bird certainly showed a much shorter bill than on Eurasian Curlew (e.Curlew). However note the thick base to the bill. The bill length was  considered to be approx 
1.25 times the length of  the head. In flight it certainly appeared thin,  straight and with just a “drooping” tip. At times the bill appeared thicker possibly due to soil and 
mud accumulation on it whilst the bird was feeding. I noted the colour as black possibly pale at the base. The bird showed a darkish crown, faintly streaked and this 
enhanced the supercilium. There was also a very neat and obvious cream/buff eyering. 
 
 
The head and neck were pale brown and in this image contrast well with the darker mantle feathers. At a distance the bird’s bill looked neat and thin however at closer 
range it appeared thick and heavy looking. nevertheless it was shorter than any Curlew that I had previously observed during the day (8 individuals). Doesn’t appear 
to be very thin at the tip! Also note the extremely white rump feathers showing through the folded wing. The primary tips do not appear to extend beyond the tail. To 
me it never appeared “Slight” in build or had any “Delicate” appearance. The neck appeared thick-set and when alerted, it certainly didn’t show any “Jizz Appearance” of Upland Sandpiper.
 
 
 
In this image the birds bright white underparts can be seen, however to me it still appeared“Bulky Looking”. It was slightly smaller but not obviously smaller in size to 
the 2 E.Curlew it was with. In flight it did look obviously smaller and I found it easy to pick out. It seemed to have a different flight profile, probably due to the shorter bill. I guess that the largest built female Slender-billed Curlew would fit this bird?I could not detect any spotting on the flanks. All  I could see were small “Arrowheads” and “Chevrons”. However it certainly wasn’t so heavily marked as in the E.Curlews. In 1st year S.B.Curlew, according to the literature, there wouldn’t be any “Spots”, just streaking. I couldn’t detect any white on the chin and throat. The neck and breast however were finely streaked darker brown on a pale milky coffee background. This gave the bird a pale necked appearance at a distance and also in flight.
 
    
 
Here the bird is preening and it looks less bulky. The mantle feathers were very dark centred with buffish/ginger fringes. Also note the very pale secondaries showing 
through which contrast with the mantle and scapular feathers. In flight the bird appeared very “Frosty” looking and the pale secondaries contrasted prominently with the dark brown primaries, giving the bird a distinctive appearance in flight. It almost had a “Bleached Look” across the upper-wing. I only saw it well in flight once as it 
took off out of a stubble field and flew around for about a minute before flying off into the distance and into other fields.
 
    
 
The bird showed pure white underwings and axillaries. I didn’t detect any grey or barred axillaries as in E.Curlew. The rump also appeared white and the tail was whiter that the E.Curlew but appeared to be well barred. I couldn’t honestly say what the leg colour was. Most of the time the bird was feeding in stubble and as can be seen from the photos, the legs were well hidden. I believe they could best be described as pale. The head doesn’t show a “Flatness” to it. In the pictures the bird appears thick necked, yet narrow in the body.
 
    
 
CONCLUSION – If the bird is a Slender-billed Curlew, then it is a large bird at the extreme ends of the size range. It is extremely heavy in build and seems to contradict 
all the literature about the species being – delicate, lightly built and diminutive against Eurasian Curlew. My opinions are that it may well be a hybrid I can;t believe it to be a “Bog “ standard Curlew but at the same time I don’t believe it to be a Slender-billed Curlew either.
 
STOP PRESS – ON 24TH JUNE 2005
– A MESSAGE WAS BROADCAST OVER THE PAGER NETWORKS THAT DNA ANALYSIS HAD CONFIRMED THE BIRD TO BE A EURASIAN CURLEW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cream-coloured Courser – Isles of Scilly – 2nd Oct 2004

 2004, Birds, Birds of 2004, Year  No Responses »
Oct 022004
 

 

The first British record for 20 years. A bird of arid grasslands and deserts, breeding from the Canary Islands, eastwards across to North & East Africa into Iraq and then from southwest Asia towards Afganistan.
 
This bird was first discovered on St.Agnes on 28th September. It was on on St.Agnes for a short time before it then disappeared. It was eventually re-located on St.Martin’s on 29th September. Fortunately remaining long enough for me to visit the islands on 2nd October. 
 
    
 
A mythical bird that performed well showing down to 15-20 feet on occasions. These pictures were digi-scoped. The bird remained on the islands for several more weeks and I saw the bird again during my annual weeks birding on St.Mary’s. It eventually departed St.Martin’s and was re-discovered on the Golf Course on St.Mary’s. The bird eventually was picked up wet and thoroughly exhausted and eventually died whilst in care. 
 
What a very sad ending to a very enigmatic bird.
 
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